A backpacking spoon is one of the most cherished pieces of gear a hiker carries. We tested seven different ultralight spoons for performance, price, and weight to help you make your utensil decision!

GSI Essential Spoon, Nylon with Silicone Edge

Morsel Spoon, Rubber Edge

My backpacking spoons: alloy, titanium, titanium (L-R)
Methods
To test the effectiveness of each spoon, I measured out exactly 50 grams of creamy peanut butter into a small titanium pot, evenly distributed on the bottom of the pot. I scooped the peanut butter out of the pan by taking one 360-degree scoop around the bottom of the pot. Then I wiped the spoon clean. I repeated this scoop-and-clean process 2 more times, for a total of 3 scoops. Then I weighed the pot to calculate the amount of peanut butter remaining in the pot. I did this process 3 times for each spoon and averaged the results. The best working spoon would remove the most peanut butter.
Spoon Performance After 3 Scoops

Click to enlarge.
Results
The GSI Essential Spoons (small and long handle) were the big winners for peanut butter removal performance: these spoons removed 93% of the peanut butter after just three scoops. The Morsel spoons performed almost as well and removed 89% of the peanut butter. My old Snow Peak titanium spoon removed a surprising 87% of the peanut butter making it a strong performer (especially when you consider it has over 5,000 trail miles and still looks new!). I also like the titanium strength of my old ultralight spoon because I occasionally burn something (hey I’m not perfect). The extra scraping ability of a sturdy titanium spoon comes in handy getting the burned remnants off the pot.


Summary
I am not completely sold on changing from my old titanium spoon. But if you don’t like the feel of a titanium spoon or spork you might want to give these new ultralight spoons a try. Just remember they aren’t as strong as a titanium spoon so you need to be more careful.